The present invention relates to a sheet conveyance problem release mechanism and sheet stacking apparatus, and more particularly to a sheet conveyance problem release mechanism of a device having a conveyance guide for conveying sheets, and a sheet stacking apparatus provided with the same.
Conventionally, sorters that sequentially sort sheets, having discharge trays or a plurality of bins for sequentially stacking sheets formed with characters and/or images by an image forming apparatus such as a copier or printer, a sheet discharge apparatus or sheet stacking apparatus, such as a mailbox that separates and stores user print jobs to each bin, are well known in the art. These apparatuses are generally provided with a jam handing mechanism to handle sheet conveyance problems.
For such jam handing mechanisms, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 10-35994 discloses a mechanism that separates a frame into a plurality of frames for sliding to move a moving frame on a fixed frame. Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 2-193864 discloses a mechanism that rotates an opening door. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Publication No. Tokkai 2001-121783 discloses a mechanism that rotates a discharge cover that is integrally formed to a stacking unit that stacks discharged sheets.
However, with the technology disclosed in Publication No. Hei 10-35994, mentioned above, plenty of extra space to allow the sliding movement of the moving frame is necessary to handle jammed sheet. There is much labor involved in the sliding movement of the moving frame. With the technology disclosed in Publication No. Hei 2-193864, plenty of extra space is necessary at the device side area, along with the rotation to the machine side of the opening door, to open the inside of the device. Furthermore, with the technology disclosed in Publication No. 2001-121783, plenty of extra space is required above the device for rotating the sheet discharge cover to the outside of the device to open the inside of the device. Because the sheet discharge cover is lifted upward, the ease of handling jammed sheets became an issue.
An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a sheet conveyance problem handing mechanism that makes the handling of sheet jams simple, without employing a mechanism that requires extra space or excessive labor to handle jams.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sheet stacking apparatus that makes the handling of sheet jams simple, without employing a mechanism that requires extra space or excessive labor to handle jams.